March 12, 2010Sarkozy steps up calls for green Tobin tax
Push for international tax on financial transactions to dominate France's hosting of next year's G20
French president Nicolas Sarkozy has vowed to make proposals for an international tax on financial transactions – designed to raise funds for climate-related projects – a central issue when France takes the chair of the G20 group of large economies next year.
Speaking at a conference on forests yesterday, Sarkozy reiterated his support for a so-called Tobin tax. This would raise much of the $100bn a year in climate funding for poorer nations, set to be delivered from 2020 as part of the deal reached at last year's Copenhagen climate change summit.
"Only innovative financing will allow us to meet this challenge," he said. " I will take, with others, initiatives at the G20 to ensure a tax on financial transactions is rapidly adopted."
Sarkozy, who first signalled his support for a Tobin tax alongside British prime minister Gordon Brown last year, admitted that it would be a struggle to secure unanimous support for the proposal. While he did not name any names, he aimed a thinly veiled swipe at the US and China, accusing some countries of obstructing progressive efforts to tackle climate change.
"The division isn't between the north and the south but between countries that want to act and those that want to wait for the storm to pass," he said, adding that "those who don't want to do anything are those who don't want to pay."
However, he said that there was support from Africa, Latin America and parts of Asia for the idea of a tax on financial transactions and vowed to continue to push the proposal.
The UN recently launched a working group headed by Gordon Brown and Ethiopian prime minister Meles Zenawi to investigate mechanisms for raising $100bn a year for investment in climate adaptation and emission reduction measures.
A Tobin tax is likely to form a central component of their research, with Brown an avowed fan of the idea. However, alternative proposals such as a levy on aviation and shipping or an expansion of the global carbon market will also be considered.
Sarkozy's speech came as 60 countries met in Paris to discuss plans to increase investment in forest protection that had been agreed at the Copenhagen summit.
The meeting aimed to follow up on pledges made by Australia, Britain, France, Japan, Norway and the US to invest a total of $3.5bn in tropical forest protection between 2010 and 2012.
Countries agreed to form a steering committee of four developing and four developed countries to decide how to distribute the money, and promised to report back on progress at a meeting in Oslo in May.
Meanwhile, Germany pledged to join the financing effort, promising to earmark 20 per cent to 30 per cent of the climate funding it will provide over the next three years to forest projects.
Speaking to news agency AFP, British climate change minister Joan Ruddock hailed the meeting as a "breakthrough" for forest protection.
Push for international tax on financial transactions to dominate France's hosting of next year's G20
French president Nicolas Sarkozy has vowed to make proposals for an international tax on financial transactions – designed to raise funds for climate-related projects – a central issue when France takes the chair of the G20 group of large economies next year.
Speaking at a conference on forests yesterday, Sarkozy reiterated his support for a so-called Tobin tax. This would raise much of the $100bn a year in climate funding for poorer nations, set to be delivered from 2020 as part of the deal reached at last year's Copenhagen climate change summit.
"Only innovative financing will allow us to meet this challenge," he said. " I will take, with others, initiatives at the G20 to ensure a tax on financial transactions is rapidly adopted."
Sarkozy, who first signalled his support for a Tobin tax alongside British prime minister Gordon Brown last year, admitted that it would be a struggle to secure unanimous support for the proposal. While he did not name any names, he aimed a thinly veiled swipe at the US and China, accusing some countries of obstructing progressive efforts to tackle climate change.
"The division isn't between the north and the south but between countries that want to act and those that want to wait for the storm to pass," he said, adding that "those who don't want to do anything are those who don't want to pay."
However, he said that there was support from Africa, Latin America and parts of Asia for the idea of a tax on financial transactions and vowed to continue to push the proposal.
The UN recently launched a working group headed by Gordon Brown and Ethiopian prime minister Meles Zenawi to investigate mechanisms for raising $100bn a year for investment in climate adaptation and emission reduction measures.
A Tobin tax is likely to form a central component of their research, with Brown an avowed fan of the idea. However, alternative proposals such as a levy on aviation and shipping or an expansion of the global carbon market will also be considered.
Sarkozy's speech came as 60 countries met in Paris to discuss plans to increase investment in forest protection that had been agreed at the Copenhagen summit.
The meeting aimed to follow up on pledges made by Australia, Britain, France, Japan, Norway and the US to invest a total of $3.5bn in tropical forest protection between 2010 and 2012.
Countries agreed to form a steering committee of four developing and four developed countries to decide how to distribute the money, and promised to report back on progress at a meeting in Oslo in May.
Meanwhile, Germany pledged to join the financing effort, promising to earmark 20 per cent to 30 per cent of the climate funding it will provide over the next three years to forest projects.
Speaking to news agency AFP, British climate change minister Joan Ruddock hailed the meeting as a "breakthrough" for forest protection.
"There was a tremendous mood of determination to get things done," she said, adding that the countries had agreed to mange the funding with a "very slim" secretariat designed to ensure the rapid roll out of the financing.
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2259404/sarkozy-steps-calls-green-tobin
